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	Ranma Saotome: The Atomic Kid.

	Part 2

	Kick ass and chew gum.

++++++++++++++++++++

	Ranma smirked as he spread his feet and put up his fists. Akane growled
irritably at this from beside him. She faced the onslaught head on
though and took up her own fighting stance. 

	The crowd started to shrink as a few of the boys stopped running quite
suddenly, a few falling on their rears as they stared in surprise.

	Most of them continued forward regardless. 

	Ranma stood waiting for them calmly next to Akane. The girl started to
step forward. 

	One of the students nearby pulled his hands up to his mouth and called
to his comrades. "Stop you idiots! That's the Atomic Kid!"

	Ranma's head whipped around to face the one who had spoken the words.
His face was as expressionless as ever. 

	The crowed had halted, and Akane stared at the boy at her side in
shock. "What?"

	Ranma merely pushed his shades up his nose and walked forward with his
hands in his pockets. He walked up to the terrified looking boy who had
stopped the mad dash.

	"You know. I think your friends would like to know. Until you opened
your mouth and called me that, I was gonna let anyone who stopped go. No
one calls me that to my face."

	The boy whimpered, and the male populace of the school stepped back.

	Ranma slugged the boy dead in the gut and sent him to the ground. He
noticed the reaction of the crowd and smirked. "I guess I could go easy
on ya this time. Seein as everyone has got the point now."

	"What the hell are you doing!?" screamed Akane in shock as she dove
into Ranma's head with a kick. The boy hadn't seen it coming and was
planted face first into the dirt.

	Akane dusted off her hands and frowned at him angrily. "You bully!"

	Ranma stood up and dusted off his arms calmly. She caught a glimpse of
his dark blue eyes as he simply gave her a passing glance just before he
replaced his shades.

	"Man, what are those made of?" commented one of the crowd in awe. There
was a small crater where the boy's head had hit the ground.

	He turned to face her and put up his fists calmly.

	"What are you doing?" snapped Akane.

	"You wanna fight? We go till one of us can't fight anymore."

	The girl stepped back and gasped in shock.

	"Come on."

	"Stop that, I'm not going to fight you!" snapped Akane irritably.

	"You started it," replied Ranma as he started to edge forward. 

	"I was just..."

	"You're about to learn what it means to attack me. I can take a slap or
two from a pretty lady, but you went over the line."

	Akane was starting to grow very nervous. "Look, I'm sorry..."

	"I can stand this no longer!"

	Ranma whirled around to face the new voice. An angry boy of about
seventeen was rushing forward with a wooden sword held over his head. He
had an angry look in his eyes as he bounded from behind the crowd,
knocking onlookers aside carelessly. Ranma was a little taller than he
was, but the older boy had a slight reach advantage with his sword. He
decided it was easy to change that.

	Kuno was knocked flat on his ass by the shot. The resounding boom
filled the campus and sent students diving into the ground in screaming
mass.

	"Not so tough without your stick are ya?" commented Ranma as he stared
down the sights of his still smoking desert eagle. The weapon was a
shined black metal with polished wooden handles. An identical twin
weapon rested inside the boy's school bag, from where he had taken the
other weapon.

	"Kuno!" screamed Akane in horror.

	"He ain't hurt. Get up ya big pussy," snorted Ranma as he walked
towards the boy's fallen form. 

	Kuno was groaning painfully as he rolled slightly and lifted his torso
up with his arm. "Wha?"
	
	"You shot him!" screamed the angry girl.

	"Nah, would have been much messier if I had," replied the boy stonily.

	Akane stared at the book bag the boy had in his hand dumbly. It was a
large handbag, and she could still see a tiny bit of the other weapon's
handle sticking out of it.

	"Come on, we ain't got all day."

	Kuno was busy looking at the stub in his hand. The end was puffed out
and splintered, about an inch above his thumb. "My, blade," muttered the
boy dumbly.

	"That ain't a blade, it's a stick," replied Ranma. He reached down into
his boot and pulled out a large polished silver blade. It glinted in the
sun as he showed all twelve inches of it to Kuno by pointing the tip at
his face. "If yer thinkin it's a good idea to go get one to use, I'll
put this one through your teeth after I shoot you."

	Kuno merely stared up at the boy in horror and nodded slowly.

	"Good." Ranma's tone had not changed once throughout the entire
conversation. 

	Akane stepped back away from Ranma slightly.

	"Where you goin? We ain't through yet."

	"What?" said Akane as she stepped back again in shock.

	"You heard me. I don't like repeating myself either."

	"Haven't you made enough of a mess?" snapped Akane angrily.

	"Quit complainin, ain't even no property damage yet."

	"I don't want to fight you!" screamed the girl as she blew her top and
screamed at the top of her lungs.

	"Yeah, now," he replied as he rushed up to her face and poked her in
the forehead. She fell on her rear and squeaked in pain as she hit the
ground.

	"Keep your temper under control."

	"What the? You bastard! You've got no room to talk!"

	"Maybe, maybe not."

	Akane seethed in anger as the boy walked calmly towards the building.
Just as he reached the inside, the sky opened up and it began to rain.

	The student body quickly followed Ranma's example.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Kasumi Tendo opened the door to the guestroom with a mop and broom. She
stooped down to pick up the bucket she had placed down to enter. 

	She gasped at the sight she beheld. The walls were covered in firearms.
They hung from racks that were propped up inside the room. She spotted
several progressively larger models of shotgun to her right. "Oh my!"
There were weapons she couldn't even begin to identify, and a few that
looked extremely high tech. Over in the corner was a small case with
several large knives inside.

	She dropped the bucket onto the floor as she spotted the rocket
launchers. "Oh dear!" Every weapon had a few rounds or clips resting in
large shelves just behind where the weapons were hanging. The whole
setup left about six feet of sleeping space. The window was the only
open space on the wall in the room, allowing light to enter from
outside. 

	"Perhaps I should just ask Ranma to make sure this room stays clean
from now on?" She looked down and sighed as she realized she had to mop
before she left. Luckily, the mess wasn't that big. Just a little splash
over as the bucket had landed right side up and not tipped. 

	She paused though when she noticed a white slip of paper hanging off of
one of the racks. It was held on with tape. "Heard about where yer goin
already, that place puts out some nice babes. Thought you might want yer
crap. Enjoy, gave you a few extra rounds ta go with it. Duke."

	"Oh. Well that was very nice of him then," said Kasumi as she hummed
cheerfully and cleaned her mess up. 

+++++++++++++++++++++

	Ranma stood at the front of the class. The teacher looked like a
complete wuss standing next to him, and he knew it. His face was deep
into the boy's file as he read it.

	"Students, this is Ranma Saotome. I should note the side note here. "If
you call him that, he'll probably kill you." 

	"What he said," agreed the boy stonily.

	The class desks creaked collectively as they sat back with wide eyes.

	Akane was the only exception, she grumbled irritably and glared at him.
She had a large grass stain on the back of her skirt now, and Kasumi was
going to be upset with her for it. It was all his fault. 

	Ranma merely walked to his desk and sat down.

	"Where's your sister?" asked Ranma as he turned his head to look at
Akane.

	"She's in her own class moron," she replied as she frowned directly at
him.

	"Nah, she started running as soon as she saw me put up my fists. She
was on the second floor. Never saw her come out, didn't see her on the
way back either."

	"We went by her class, maybe she got there first?" snorted Akane. 

	"She wasn't sitting there when I looked," replied Ranma.

	"Um, excuse me?" said the Teacher. Everyone was engrossed in the
conversation that was going on. The poor teacher couldn't believe this
boy had the balls to be doing it right in front of him.

	"What do you mean?" said Akane as she stared at him with what was now a
fearful frown.	

	"What is going on here!?" snapped the teacher.

	"Ain't sure yet," replied Ranma calmly as he adjusted his glasses and
looked at him.

	"Take those ridiculous things off!" snapped the teacher.

	"No," said Ranma calmly.

	Akane gasped, she could see the other side of the lenses from the angle
she was at. The image inside was not just what was going on in front of
him. There was a complicated looking scope of some kind, tiny buttons
lined the rim around the lenses. She could only guess what they did.
"Wha?"

	Just before things could heat up any more, a new voice rang out over
the crowd. "Ranma Saotome! I would have words with you!"

	Ranma cracked his knuckles and stood up. "Okay."

	"What the hell are you doing? I'm in the middle of a class here!"
snapped the teacher.

	"So teach it," replied Ranma calmly as he pushed through the door.

	"I see," said the teacher as he narrowed his eyes and frowned.

	Akane jumped from her chair. "Hey! Wait! What about..."

	"Akane Tendo! Sit down!" snapped the teacher as his patience finally
vanished. 

	"What?" said the girl as she glared at him. He quickly cowered behind
his desk. "I'm going to check on my sister!" She turned and rushed out
the door after the boy.

+++++++++++++++

	Ranma stood across from Kuno in the front courtyard. Neither said a
word, Ranma was about eight feet closer to the front gates than Kuno was
as they faced off in the main pathway. 

	"You say that you will meet my steel with steel? If I face you with
such a weapon, it is to be a match of death."

	"You start wavin a sword around, and I'll answer with lead," replied
Ranma. He didn't seem particularly interested in what was going on.

	"I see, then perhaps another contest?"

	"Contest?" said Ranma as he arched his eyebrows.

	"I must prove my strength to Akane Tendo, show her that I am your
better. Show her that no man may stand against my might!"

	"This is over a chick?" asked Ranma as the corners of his lips turned
down slightly. "One stupid babe?"

	Kuno looked at him for a moment and frowned as well. "Akane Tendo is
perfection in a woman."

	"Well, whatever floats your boat buddy. What the hell does this have to
do with me?"

	"You were with her today when she passed through the gates. Tell me
what your relationship to her is?" Kuno pointed his bokken at Ranma in a
rather dramatic fashion.

	"Who do you think you're pointin that thing at?" said Ranma as he
turned his body to face the boy completely.

	"Merely to drive home my feelings for Akane Tendo," offered Kuno with
an unusual calm.

	"Yeah, whatever," said Ranma as he brushed it aside.

	"You seem to be a strong man, such as I," replied Kuno.

	Ranma was growing irritated with this. "Is there a point in here?"

	"You still have not named your relationship with Akane Tendo."

	"My old man arranged a marriage to her family," replied Ranma with a
shrug. "I gotta marry one of em supposedly. Pain in the ass really."

	Kuno's jaw dropped like a lead weight. "You fiend!" 

	Ranma had no response to this.

	"You dare try to pressure Akane Tendo into marriage? She is destined to
be my one true flower of..."

	"I don't think she likes you actually," replied Ranma with a small
shrug.

	"Bah! You do not understand the simplicity of a woman's heart. She
desires only me! I know this to be true!"

	"Yer nuts," said Ranma as he calmly lit a cigarette. 

	"You cannot smoke upon the hallowed grounds of Furinkan High!"

	"This place is a heap," snorted Ranma as he glanced around. "This is
the most out of date school I've ever seen. Then again, I been around
quite a bit."

	"You mock me sir!" cried Kuno. He rushed forward and drew his bokken. 

	Ranma merely jabbed him in the face with the butt of his weapon as it
was once again popped out of the bag. He hadn't put it down since he had
arrived. "You can just stay there for a while. I gotta go figure out who
was stupid enough to try and steal my chick."

	"Ow dare noo speak off Akane Nendo dat vay!" cried Kuno as he stopped
nursing his bleeding nostril for a moment.

	"I'm talkin about that other chick," replied Ranma as he started to
walk away. "Nabitchi or whatever."

	Kuno merely looked forward with wide eyes. "Nabiki Tendo? I do not
understand...why would? You! Halt, if for a brief moment. You are
engaged to Nabiki Tendo?"

	Ranma paused his stride for a moment and turned his head slightly. He
still had the cigarette in his mouth as he spoke. "Sure. I guess she
is."

	"I see," said Kuno as he stood up and tried to look as regal as his
bloody nose would allow. He calmly walked towards the building and
inside one of the side doors that led to the nurse's station.

	Ranma merely walked to the front door and reached inside his bag. He
pulled out a harness that fit around his chest. It had two holsters and
about ten clips of ammunition attached to it. He pulled the weapons out
and holstered them before dropping the bag to the ground. "Wonder who
decided to visit?"

	He kicked the double doors open and strode into the main hall, taking
drags off his cigarette as he walked right through the hall as if he was
strolling down the street.

	No one appeared outside of the rooms to stop him, though there were
faces crowding the windows of almost every door. 

	Ranma smirked as he turned to the door that led into the basement.
"Knock, knock."

	He leaned a little closer to the door and put his hand up to his mouth.
"Psst, you're supposed to say who's there."

	A loud bang sounded behind the door and Ranma rolled aside as wood
splintered the hallway behind him. There was the sound of a shell being
ejected with a pump from the other side of the door. 

	He pushed himself up to his feet immediately mid roll and pulled both
of his weapons to the ready. "Hope you got a little more than that pal."

	Screams started from the classrooms as students went into a panic. The
hallway remained clear though as they backed further into the rooms.
Ranma unloaded several rounds into the giant manlike creature that
emerged from the door. It was an anthropomorphic creature, a man crossed
with a pig. It was also wearing what looked like a police officer's
uniform from America.

	Akane turned into the hallway in a dead run. She screeched to a halt
and barely avoided hitting the lockers. "Where is my sister?" she cried
as she stared at Ranma. 

	"Hmmm, the new model," said Ranma as he picked up the fallen shotgun
from the dead thing's grip.

	"What the hell is that?" cried the girl as she suddenly realized that
something wasn't right.

	"Just a pig, hired help."

	"Pig?" muttered Akane fearfully as she stared at it. "What's going on
here? Where's Nabiki?"

	"My guess is down there," said Ranma as he pointed at the stairs on the
other side of the open door.

	"Are there more of these things?" said the girl as she stared at it in
horror.

	"Yup. Never seen just one," said Ranma calmly as he looked into the
poorly lit stairwell.

	"I'm going with you!" cried Akane as he started to step forward.

	"You'll only get in the way," he replied simply as he ignored her.

	"You can't stop me from following you," said the girl as she started
after him.

	She stopped dead in her tracks as she found herself with the barrel of
the shotgun stuck into her forehead. She simply looked up nervously at
it. "What are you doing?"

	"Well, I figure we might as well get this over with. If you come down
those stairs with me, yer gonna get shot anyway."

	Akane frowned at him and stared him down as hard as she could muster.
"You said my sister was down there."

	"Probably, gotta wonder who would know about this already though."

	"You were expecting this?" gasped Akane in shock.

	"Blame your old man and mine, it was their idea," replied the boy as he
glanced down at her for a moment. 

	Akane didn't like the sound of that, but she couldn't really argue with
him at the moment. "Why are we standing here?" she snapped as she pushed
the barrel of the weapon aside and rushed by him.

	He stopped her by grabbing the back of her shirt. "Careful, they have
guns." He held the weapon up in front of his face as he walked forward. 

	Akane blushed as she walked directly behind him. "Right."

	The pair found themselves in a large storage room. There were desks and
chairs stacked up with sports equipment. There were also props for
student plays, boxes of seasonal decorations, and a few larger teachers'
desks. 

	Ranma merely frowned as he glanced around the room.

	Akane gasped as she found herself being violently pulled to the ground
as the sound of gunfire exploded in the room. The roar died down and she
gasped as she realized she wasn't hurt. Ranma had a firm grip on her
wrist to keep her from getting up in her dazed state. She recovered a
bit and glanced around. They were behind a large wooden table near the
entrance. The wood was fairly heavy, but there were still a few holes in
it from the exchange. 

	Ranma was turned against the legs with his shotgun held in an upright
position. "Behind the big desk near the other wall."

	"What?" muttered the girl. 

	"That's where they are," he replied simply as he popped a shell out of
the shotgun. "Two of em."

	Akane nodded slowly as she realized that she could hear a low grunting
at the moment.

	Ranma casually tossed the shell over his shoulder and into the middle
of the room.

	"What are you doing?" hissed Akane.

	Ranma merely jumped up suddenly and fired a single shot. Two reports
sounded as the other shell went off on the ground. Loud squeals of pain
filled the room suddenly.

	"That."

	Akane stood up and followed after Ranma as he calmly exited their
cover. He walked over to an upright teacher's desk. The bottom was open,
with a thin layer of metal across the front. There was a pool of blood
forming around the bottom now.

	Ranma raised his weapon into a firing position and jumped on top of the
desk. He fired two shots and the squealing stopped. He casually jumped
down and picked up the two weapons that were now strewn on the floor.
One was another shotgun, and the other was a small submachine gun.

	He tossed Akane the shotgun. The girl almost dropped it in shocked
revulsion. 

	"You wanna keep going, you keep it."

	She frowned at him deeply. "How do I use this stupid thing?"

	Ranma stood up and took it back. He cocked the weapon and looked it
over quickly. "I'll show you." He picked it up and cocked it. A shell
flew out of the chamber. "Push a shell in like that. Point and squeeze
the trigger. Careful, it kicks hard. You've got six rounds." He placed
the discarded shell back in. "It jams sometimes, so stay back even
though you've got it. I don't want to waste time teaching you how to
clear it right now. They know we know about them now."

	Akane nodded seriously and took the weapon back. "All right."

++++++++++++++++++

	Nabiki was still struggling against her captors. Two giant monsters had
snagged her out of the back of a crowd in the confusion after the
commotion outside at the beginning of the day. She was terrified by the
gigantic pigs who kept her arms in a firm grip as they held her in the
middle of a room with no one else in it. All they were doing was holding
her and she didn't want to risk pissing them off too much. Simply
standing there and taking it was a bit below her dignity and she pulled
at their grip weakly, just enough to make holding her still actual work. 

	She doubted if they could speak at all. A few grunts of annoyance had
been the only sound she'd heard from either one. She did have some idea
about what was going on. She was waiting on someone.

	After what seemed like hours the door in the back of the room opened
and she froze. 

	It was some sort of armor. Black polished metal that stood almost eight
feet tall. It was easily four feet wide and broke the doorway apart to
accommodate its girth simply by walking through it. "Ah. Nabiki Tendo I
presume?" It turned its head to look at her. The voice was not
mechanical and she realized that she could see his face hidden behind a
dark tinted bubble of glass. The things robotic hands reached out and
plucked her from the ground around her waist and pulled her up to it for
a closer view. The glass slid up and revealed a serious looking man with
a yellow and black bandana. Small screens surrounded the area around his
face with all sorts of technical data. The largest one in the front she
recognized as a global tracking system. A whirring sound from just
beside her head forced her attention to what appeared to be a chain gun
that was extending from the right wrist. The left wrist had three large
holes with missiles inside of them. 

	Nabiki Tendo seemed to realize just how bad her position was. "What do
you want?" She felt incredibly small as the man turned off the weapon
and it slowly spun to a stop.

	"I want Ranma Saotome. You're alive because you're bait. It doesn't
really matter if you're going to marry him or not. I'm sure he'll come
after you anyway. You've got roaming eyes, I'm afraid he doesn't like
smart women. I'll tell you this much, if holding you is too much of a
problem, I'll gladly rid him of his obligation to your family. I'm not
just talking about you either."

	One of the pigs rushed into the room gasping for breath hoarsely. It
grunted and pointed back behind its head. 

	"Heh. He's coming," said the man as he tossed her aside carelessly. His
visor slid back into place and he turned towards the next door. "Prepare
the Technobots. We've got a long day ahead of us."

	The thing grunted and saluted his master. 

	"Tie her up and prepare her for execution. When he comes through here,
shoot her."

	"No!" cried Nabiki as she tried to scramble to her feet. The two pigs
who had been holding her chuckled as one of them pulled rope from his
utility belt. The other one cocked its shotgun and glared at her. She
couldn't outrun that weapon. The only other object in the room was a
table.

	"The harder you fight, the more they'll enjoy killing you. I suggest
you cooperate and hope for the best." The thing crashed through the next
door and pretty much destroyed any doorway in his way as he turned into
the hallways of the basement. 

She'd had no idea the place was this large underground. There was no way
a school needed this much of whatever the hell some of the machines
she'd seen did. The things tightened the ropes around her wrists and
started on her feet. She growled under her breath as one of them gave
her a light but painful kick in the stomach as they stood up and left
her lying there. The other simply cocked his shotgun and stood over her
watching the door. The other one was guarding the rear entrance with its
own weapon. "How the hell are you gonna get out of this one Tendo?"

++++++++++++++++++++

	Ranma and Akane were walking down the middle of a dark cement hallway.
Pipes periodically lined the walls and occasionally had to be stepped
around. Akane didn't like where she was, Ranma didn't seem to care. Some
of the pipes had large warning labels on them and moisture dripped from
others. It gave the path a sort of wet stench to it. It seemed to
stretch out for miles before them. "What is this place?" asked the girl
as she gripped the weapon nervously.

	Ranma glanced around he was strolling almost casually and puffing on a
cigarette. "Something's going on here. This is a bit beyond the school
board's budget for the century."

	"What do you mean? Someone built something under Furinkan? Why?"
muttered Akane dumbly.

	"This is a bit much for a trap, even for some of the people I know.
We'll find out more soon enough. I find these guys like to talk a lot
when you meet them. Maybe I'll let him finish before I shoot him, if
it's interestin enough."

	"Ape," grumbled Akane irritably. "I hate this thing." She stared at the
weapon in her hands but didn't loosen her grip on it.

	"The art of the gun is a difficult path," said Ranma with a small
shrug.

	"You call this art? Anyone can..."

	"Anyone can kill with a sword, or a car, or explosives, or..."

	"Not this easily," growled the girl as she glared at him. 

	"Maybe you're right. Just because something is easy to use, doesn't
mean it's easy to master. The Way of the Gun is as much a martial art as
Anything Goes."

	"What? That's crazy!" snapped the girl. Ranma hadn't even twitched an
eyebrow for the entire conversation.

	"You'd better listen up. I don't have time to take you by the hand and
carry you back to where we started. Going back now isn't safe. They know
we're here and they're coming for us. This little pause is nothing but
the calm before the storm kid." He actually grinned at her as she stared
at him blankly and blinked. He pulled one of the handguns out from
behind his back and slung the shotgun over his shoulder in the same
motion and pointed it down the empty hallway. "You've got to become one
with it. It is an extension of you, a limb of its own. You must know
where your shots will land, before you squeeze the trigger, it must
react as quickly as you can. When you get there, you will understand."

	"I'll never understand this crap!" she snarled at him. 

	"Well. I suppose it's been nice knowing you then," replied the boy as
he fired his weapon twice. The sound of metal twisting and a loud crash
turned her attention towards her right. A large silver robot with a
single wheel and two clamps for arms crashed into the ground and started
shooting sparks out the holes in its back. The head had a slowly fading
red light in its center.

	Akane screamed and flinched as she wheeled around on her heels to glare
at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

	"It's time to run," said the boy calmly as he tossed his cigarette on
the ground. "We don't have much ammo and I hate not having explosives on
me."

	She turned her head and stared at what was coming. Dozens of the robots
were bearing down on them, and there were maybe two more with clam like
hands. The others had automatic weapons on either arm. She could see one
or two with barrels as big around as her leg on one arm.

	"What are those things?" gasped Akane as she struggled to keep up with
him.

	"Technobots. I haven't seen them in years," muttered Ranma angrily.

	"What's going on?" cried the girl in terror as bullets started bouncing
around raining pieces of cement down on them from above.

	Ranma didn't answer and pulled her arm as he ducked into a small
corner  and held one of his handguns just outside it.

	"What the hell are you doing?" screamed the girl as she found herself
pressed between the wall and his chest. 

	"Too much traffic," he replied as the handgun reported. A huge ball of
flame roared into the hallway as one of the pipes exploded and sent
flaming debris bouncing down the hallway past them. Ranma backed away
and walked into the hallway with both weapons held ready in opposite
directions. He turned them both down the open hallway when he noticed
the path was blocked by a few tons of concrete. "Much better. The walls
are thicker than I'd thought."

	The girl coughed a she waved some of the huge cloud of smoke and dust
out of her face and staggered out of their cover. "You could have killed
us both!"

	"Maybe," he replied calmly. "The hallway ends just ahead. We need to
find out what this place is."

	"What about my sister?" snarled Akane angrily.

	"When we find out who's behind this, we'll find your sister. I think
this is some idiot's idea of a trap."

	"All of this?" said the girl as she simply stood there with her mouth
open.

	"Nah. Probably just bad luck. Having me going to school right over your
secret base could be messy."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

	Tatewaki Kuno glared at the thing that had dared intrude upon the
hallowed halls of Furinkan High. Unfortunately, he could do little more
than that, as it was armed with a shotgun. It grunted and started waving
the girls across the room towards it, pointing them out into the hallway
with its weapon. 

	They could hear them screaming in the hallway as they found themselves
herded away in mass. 

	"I cannot stand for this!" screamed Kuno as he lunged out of his seat
and swiftly drew his wooden blade. The animal never knew what hit it and
fell to the ground. Kuno stared out into the hallway and glared at the
boys in his class. "You intend to stand like cowards while these things
spirit our women away? Cowards! I shall stand and fight!" He raised his
sword over his head and put it through the ceiling tile. A piece of it
remained stuck on the end of the blade as he hung it across his
shoulder. "Fear not fair maidens of Furninkan. I, Tatewaki Kuno shall
come to your aide!"

	None of the other boys moved as he dashed out the door.

	"Maybe he'll get himself killed."

	"We can only hope."

	"Man. I'm gonna miss Hitomi, she put out."

	Several boys in the class nodded in agreement.

++++++++++++++++++++

	"How our the plans proceeding?"

	"Two thousand women. I'll have your order ready. Just make sure you
keep your end of the bargain." 

	"Hibiki. Do not fail me."

	The man growled angrily in response to that and shut down the
transmission. "Me? Fail?" His eyes filled with rage as he thrust his
mech's arms outward smashing the walls and ceiling around him and
sending debris blasting in every direction. 

	Two higher-ranking pig cops stood behind him and backed away fearfully
as he slowly turned towards them. "Get the trucks loaded and ready. If
you happen to pick up a few extra, well we'll just call it a bonus."

	The things grunted sharply and saluted him before rushing away grunting
and squealing noisily.

	He hated that sound, he had no idea why. It bothered him on a level
even he couldn't understand. Yet his superiors insisted on their use.
"Worthless, stupid creatures."

	"Ranma Saotome, soon, because of me, you will see hell."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

	Explosions on the surface of the planet below burned brightly. Even in
the void of space, the black and orange balls of flame and thick black
clouds of smoke were clearly visible. 

	Ryoga Hibiki stared from the void of space, a single pane of glass
separating him from the airless nothing. "It's beautiful."

	"Yes," said a slightly mechanical sounding voice from behind him. A
steel claw rested on his shoulder. "Only in chaos does humanity show its
true destructive beauty. That is humanity's power, its purpose."

	"Dr. Proton. Why did you take me with you?"

	"I wanted to create a distraction once that brat Nukem started carrying
around became an annoyance. Didn't take long, the annoying little runt.
You were merely the best choice genetically, the closest match I could
find to his potential. It did not hurt that I might need an Heir one
day." The old man seethed angrily as he stared hatefully at the planet's
surface. "This is only the beginning. No one can stop me now boy, not
even him."

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Ryoga frowned as the orange light of his readout screen in front of him
bathed his face in a pale glow. "You were wrong. Always wrong, but oddly
enough, only when it really counted." He smirked to himself and revved
the mini-gun on his arm impatiently. "Hurry up Ranma. I'm getting tired
of waiting."

	He paused as he came to a split in the hallway, one to the left and
another to his right. He glanced down at his screen and saw a small
arrow pointing to his left. He turned right and a flashing red light
started inside the suite. He growled angrily as he continued to turn in
place until the light turned green. He started forward again and stomped
away.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Ranma and Akane walked into a large room filled with what appeared to
be holding pens. Nothing more than cages with cloth laid out on the
ground in each one. 

	"What is this place?"

	"Holding pens. I don't think they've been used yet," replied Ranma as
he looked around the room. It was very dark, but he'd yet to remove his
sunglasses. 

	"What can you see?" she asked him as she clutched at the shotgun
nervously. 

	"Everything," he replied simply. "Nothing to see here really." He fired
two shots behind them without looking back and a loud squeal sounded as
something hit the ground.

	Akane jumped and screamed as she turned around. 

	"Relax, it was just one. His friends will be showing up soon though."

	"I thought you said you'd never seen just one?"

	"First time for everything," replied the boy as he continued through
the room. "Door is this way."

	"Where are we going anyway?" muttered the girl as she jogged up
directly behind him. 

	"Wherever that door takes us," he replied calmly. He pushed it open and
the girl behind him gasped.

	"I was wondering when you guys were gonna show up," said Ranma as no
less than twenty of the pig things stood around the door with a weapon
pointing at them. 

	"Oh, shit," muttered Akane when the boy cocked his shotgun. She dove
behind the wall as he simply strolled into the room. 

	"Who wants to take the first shot?" The things all stepped away from
him. 

	A loud clang sounded just behind him and the ground shook under his
soles slightly. "What the?"

	Three technobots landed from a ledge above the door once he'd gotten
far enough into the room. "Fuck."

	A resounding boom filled the room and one of the robot's head fell off.
It fell forward slowly and slid across the ground for a short way after
it landed. Ranma was quick to roll as the pig things scattered and stood
to his feet with the rocket launcher the machine had been carrying
resting on his shoulder. "Never thought she'd be the one to shoot
first."

	Akane was still picking herself up from the ground with the smoking
shotgun being held shakily in her grip in the other room. 

	Ranma shifted his head as one of the robot claws slashed by his left
ear and fired a rocket towards a group of about seven pigs. He twisted
around and fired his handgun into the machine's torso as he jumped back
away from its falling body. He rolled on his side a few times and spun
towards more gunfire that was directed at him. 

	Akane was on her feet in the doorway watching the scene with a look of
shocked awe on her face. The boy simply turned his torso sideways with
his palm on the ground and fired another rocket towards the pigs that
were shooting at him from around a corner just inside a hallway that led
out of the room. Pieces of them flew everywhere as the round exploded
against the opposite wall and consumed the opening in flame and debris. 

	The remaining robot carved one of the few pigs left in two as it
slashed its bladed arm at his position. The boy simply jumped up and
over the strike while firing two shots into the thing's head. Before he
landed he twisted his torso and killed the last two remaining pigs with
two clean headshots before his feet touched the ground. The weapon was
twirled around his finger as he hefted the rocket launcher upright in
his other arm over his shoulder. "Cool. Ammo." He immediately began
raiding the ground for weapons and ammo. He picked up and wiped the
blood off of a forty five-millimeter semi automatic handgun. "Here."

	The girl caught it and nearly dropped it in disgust. 

	"It's more reliable than the shotgun. Doesn't jam as easily. It's got a
ten round clip on it too." He patted her shoulder as she looked at it.
"Doesn't kick as much either."

	"You should have told me about that," she growled as she clenched the
smaller weapon a little tighter. He caught the shotgun as she tried to
drop it and grabbed her. She didn't have time to react as he hooked the
shoulder strap across her torso and turned her towards the smoking
hallway. "Keep it. You'll probably need it."

	The girl didn't like the sound of that. "How do I use this stupid
thing?" she cried as she rushed after him again. He was already moving
though the pieces of pig cop and down the hallway.

	"Come here and I'll show you," he replied stonily as he demonstrated
the basic operation of the weapon with his own. "Same principal, make
sure the safety is off or it won't fire."

	"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" she muttered angrily as she
glanced back at the mess he'd made. 

	"You know I do. I told you to stay behind, but you didn't listen. The
only path now is forward."

	She hung her head and glared at the ground angrily. "Why did I come?"

	"If you're going to cry, do it quietly. The sound travels real well and
they can hear better than you can." He calmly lit a cigarette and
continued his fast paced stride. 

	"I'm not crying!"

	"You might be before this is over. Just thought I'd warn you."

	She seethed angrily at him for a moment and stomped.

	"Stop that, walk softly and stay behind me. They might have wall mines,
I can see them and you can't."

	The girl blushed as her temper flared for a brief moment. She didn't
like taking orders from him, but he knew about this sort of thing and
she didn't have a clue.

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